


heartlines

by mcmeekin



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: AU, Gen, Grid Theory, Morphin' Grid, i have a lot of grid theory thoughts sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2403986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmeekin/pseuds/mcmeekin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It only sort of bothers her that her friends will never know they were her friends.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roughly eighty people Lauren Shiba wasn't raised by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	heartlines

The first time it happens is a week after her mentor leaves.

He explained it to her calmly, how he was too ill to continue her training, how she was old enough to continue her routines by herself, how the safe house was fully equipped to take care of her, how she was mature enough to take care of herself, how she must keep to the safe house as much as possible, how money would be mailed to her to buy essentials, how he would try to check up on her once a month if his condition improved. She received the news calmly enough for a thirteen year old girl. She was used to being on her own anyway.

Which is why the incident shocks her the first time it occurs.

She’s outside, running through her sword practice routine for the evening. She has barely completed the final move when a voice behind her says, “You drop your left shoulder too much.”

She whirls around to find an unfamiliar man leaning on the side of the house looking at her almost disapprovingly. She immediately falls into a defensive position before she fully processes his words. “What?”

The man sighs, like her confusion is annoying. “I said that you drop your left shoulder too much. You’re leaving your left side too vulnerable to attack. Lifting your shoulder will help with that as well as speeding up your reaction time.” He stares at her critically.

She stands warily for a moment, still in ready position, before asking, “Who are you? And how did you get in here?” She knows there are wards to keep out any unwanted visitors; she had watched her mentor put them up.

The man stares at her silently for a while before saying, “Well, that depends. Who do you need me to be?”

“That’s not an answer,” she snaps.

He looks at her calmly, not at all bothered by her hostility, before saying, “I’m a manifestation of the Power.”

She blinks. “What?”

“The Power,” he repeats impatiently, like she’s a particularly dense student. “As in, the 'power' part of 'Power Ranger'.”

“How do you—” she begins, but he continues over her.

“The Power assists all past, current, and future power rangers in any way that they most need. And so I am the Power. I have the combined experiences of all the people who have ever held the power or will ever hold it up until you take up the mantle.”

There is silence for a moment before she says, “I don’t believe you,” even as doubt tickles the back of her mind. How else could he have gotten past the wards?

“I wouldn’t believe him either,” a new voice from behind her says. She whirls around to see a blond woman sitting on the bench. “But it’s the truth.”

Lauren slowly turns back to look at the man leaning against her house. “She’s another manifestation of the Power,” he says in answer to the question she didn't ask. “Several of us can exist in one area. As many as you require.”

Lauren is quiet for a long time before the woman behind her speaks again. “It’s the truth.” she repeats, her voice almost musical. “I know that you don’t want to believe us, but we’re telling you the truth.”

“How do I know for sure?” Lauren asks.

“Because we know things about you, Lauren Shiba,” the man says, his impatience obvious. “Things we couldn’t possibly know. For example, I know that you are the eighteenth head of the house of Shiba. I know that your brother’s name is Jayden Shiba, that he has been pretending to be the leader of Shiba house since he was five years old, that your father was a red ranger, that your brother will be a red ranger, that you will replace your brother as a red—”

“I believe you,” Lauren interrupts quietly, her guard long since dropped.

He stares at her for a minute, his frustration appearing to drain away as he sees that she really does believe him. “The Power protects in whatever way it is needed, Lauren,” he explains more calmly than before. “So, I am whoever you need me to be.”

“Who do you need us to be, Lauren?” the woman asks softly.

She stands perfectly still for a long time. Answers spin through her head. She needs a teacher, she needs a mentor, she needs a father, she needs a brother—no, she needs _her_ brother.

“A friend,” she whispers. “I need a friend.”

A moment of silence, then the woman chuckles softly. “I think you might need more than one.”

~~~

They help her train. She appreciates the different styles of fighting they have to offer and treats each teacher like a mentor: Jason, Trini, Adam, Karone, Jen, Alyssa, Cam, Daggeron. She also has slightly more...unorthodox teachers like Zack, who teaches her a fighting style she’s never heard of, and RJ whose methods are unusual, yet effective. Cam is secretly her favorite teacher; being taught by a real samurai is always refreshing, even if he was raised as a ninja.

She soon learns that fighting isn’t the only thing the rangers can teach her. Kai teaches her how to cook (after a disastrous incident involving Tommy blowing up her microwave). Ethan teaches her how to play video games (after begging her to use her leftover money to _buy_ video games; she beats his high score in revenge). Tanya teaches her how to read and write music with assistance from Kira and Cassie (a karaoke night follows). Chad teaches her how to swim (in the lake down the road; his teammates make jokes about fish girlfriends that go over her head). Both Cole and Maya try to teach her how to talk to animals, but she declares their lessons a failure.

They teach her things without meaning to as well. Through their experiences and backstories and actions she learns things about life. Casey teaches her about self-confidence (through shy smiles and impromptu sparring matches with his teammates that they insist are called ‘dog piles’; they make her join in once, and she refuses to admit that she sees why they enjoy them so much). Shane teaches her about leadership (through a water fight that lasts three days; Tori insists Dustin started it). Mack teaches her about forging your own identity (through excited tales that Rose de-embellishes). Karone teaches her about redemption (through girls nights with Ashley, Cassie, Maya, and Kendrix that involve painted nails, romantic comedies, and pillow fights) while Andros teaches her about family (through pranks with Zhane that he insists he had no part of, stories told with TJ comparing their red runs, stories told to Karone about their childhood, stories told with Carlos and Ashley about that time a little girl blackmailed Carlos, stories that make her think that family is often a mixture of blood and water, stories that make her decide that smiles look good on him).

~~~

She learns quickly that none of them age. She asks Cam about it (since she always goes to Cam for questions about the Power, mostly because he was the first manifestation of it that she ever encountered).

“We appear the age the Power accepted us as,” he explains.

She absorbs this for a moment before saying, “So Justin…”

Cam nods. “Yeah. We give Rocky a hard time about that one.”

After another moment, she grins, a thought occurring to her. “Is that why Adam and Tommy’s hair changes length all the time? Because the Power accepted them more than once?” she jokes.

Cam cracks a reluctant smile and nods. “They were apparently under the impression that long hair was once in style.”

While they don’t age, she does. She grows older and stronger and continues her studies diligently. The only days she takes off are her birthday and major holidays and only those at Kimberly’s insistence. She finds that pinks are more forceful than she anticipated. The time Kim and Kat team up to force her to buy clothes other than her training outfits is proof enough of that.  
“Don’t you want to look nice when you go grocery shopping?” Kat asks in a gentle tone.

“Who am I trying to impress? The cashier?” Lauren counters.

“What about when the time comes for you to meet your brother?” Kim wheedles. “You definitely want to look good for that.”

She gives in eventually.

~~~

She finds that they really like watching themselves on TV.

It starts one day with her finding the two dinosaur-themed teams laughing in the living room. She discovers that the source of their amusement is the Dino Thunder team fighting on TV. Ethan is telling the story of how the Dinos met to the original team who’s roaring with laughter.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Oh, hi Lauren, sorry we’re using your TV,” Kira says apologetically. “It’s just that today is our first fight, and they were curious.”

“No, it’s fine…” she responds. But it’s weird, hearing them cheer themselves on.

~~~

She’s sparring with Adam one day when the thought occurs to her.

“Hey Adam,” she asks as she blocks his blow and delivers one of her own which he easily deflects. “Have you seen Cam today?”

“No, why?” he asks, not missing a beat.

She allows him to gain some ground before taking it back fast and fiercely, this time forcing him to retreat a little. “I was just wondering something about the Power, and I always ask him questions like that.”

“You know that we all know the same things about the Power, right? I mean, it might feel weird asking Tommy Oliver an intelligent question, but he knows the same answers as Cam.” He dodges a punch.

“Yeah, I know. I just feel more comfortable asking him.” She ends the fight by sweeping his feet out from under him and pinning him down with her foot. She helps him up after a second and bows to him. He bows back and throws her a towel from the nearby bench. She accepts it and continues, “I just wanted to know if the real Adam has any idea that he has a replica fighting with a fifteen-year-old miles and miles away.”

He considers the question for a long time, taking a seat on the bench. “Well, that depends on the person,” he says at last. “Most people have no idea that they are being used by the Power; others vaguely know it, but it’s like a memory of a dream. I would say that about ninety percent of Rangers fall into the first category. I would not expect any of the real versions of us to know who you are, Lauren,” he explains. She nods, expecting this answer, and goes to find her supplies to practice symbol power. It only sort of bothers her that her friends will never know they were her friends.

~~~

Bridge and Scott confuse her. They’re both reds, but Lauren has never met a single member of their teams besides them.

When she finally asks Bridge about it, he’s less than helpful. “Oh, I’m from the future, but I’m a green there. But sometimes I’m a blue. And sometimes I’m a red, like I am here, but I’m only a red here because they needed a red for the Retro Rangers so I agreed to come to the year 2007 to be a Retro Ranger, but that hasn’t happened yet for you, and it will make sense in about a year. So, my team is the Retro Rangers, but also the SPD Rangers in the year 2025. Also the year 2026. And a lot more years until I retire. Which takes a while, I think.”

She pretends like she understands until the next year when the Retro Rangers show up to replace the Operation Overdrive Rangers for a while, and then she really does understand. The newscasters don’t though, not until Andrew Hartford does a special explaining the Retro Rangers and that the unfamiliar red ranger is from the future.

Scott’s a bit harder to figure out. This is mostly due to the fact that he’s rarely around. She finally manages to catch him outside one afternoon after her symbol power practice. He’s visibly uncomfortable with her question but does his best to answer her. He tells her that he’s from a different dimension, an alternate timeline, where the world was (will be?) taken over by a computer virus. He and his team fought (fight?) it, but he was (will be?) the only one to come to this dimension, which is why he appears to her. She asks him when he comes over to this dimension but is distracted by Taylor poking her head outside and reporting that Wes and Katie are engaged in _another_ pillow fight that has escalated to _another_ pillow war (they always go all out, with forts and a designated “war zone” and hastily created armies). Lauren has to go handle it (by immediately picking Katie’s side and leaping into the melee) and never gets her answer.

She slowly learns about their teams. About Jack, who Bridge calls his ‘real red,’ a term that makes her wonder if that’s how her team will feel about Jayden when she shows up (“He managed to be laid back AND strict AT THE SAME TIME. How did he do that?”). About Syd, who for all her prissiness has a heart of gold (“And sometimes a fist of gold, but she prefers iron”). About Sky, who wanted to be a leader so badly but learned that it didn't matter, that his talent rested in being just part of the team, of being second-in-command (“I mean, until he literally became THE command, taking Cruger’s place, but that’s irrelevant to the story”). About Z, who felt alienated and lost all her life until she found a place in SPD (“Or several places, I guess. Sometimes she takes up more room than you expect”). About Sam, who was bullied and came back in time to be with his real friends (“Just to be clear, calling him ‘Sparky the Lightball’ was Jack’s idea and didn't count as bullying”).

She learns about Dillon, with his complicated backstory, brooding persona, and fierce loyalty (Scott pretends to be exasperated when explaining him, but Lauren can see the smile in his eyes). About Summer, with her fiery personality and determination that can't be matched (Scott says if Lauren’s second-in-command won’t morph while wearing a wedding dress, she should find a new one). About Flynn, with his child-like faith and unshakable endurance (Scott imitates his accent, and Lauren is on the floor laughing). About Ziggy, with his accidental morpher acquisition and how he fit into the team like he was always meant to be there (Scott recounts a story about the mob and how it relates to shadow puppets). About Gem and Gemma, with their ridiculous obsession with explosives and inseparable nature (Scott says that Lauren should be glad that they are absent from her friends, or she would be buying a new microwave every week).

And she hears about their tech support and mentors. About Kat Manx and Doggie Cruger and Boom. About Doctor K (not a mentor) and Scott’s dad. And she finds herself looking forward to having a team. To having a family like they do.

~~~

_Thump, THUMP._

Lauren bolts upright in her bed at the noise, scrambling for her samuraizer blindly before discovering the source. She groans loudly and falls back down into bed.

“Get off my bed, Zhane,” she complains to the ceiling.

“Nope,” he says, grinning at her.

“Get off my bed!” she repeats more forcefully, kicking at him.

“Not gonna happen,” he says, his grin growing.

She sits up quickly and practically growls at him. “Get off my bed, or I’ll…” she trails off, grasping for a punishment.

“Are you trying to threaten someone who doesn't technically exist?” he asks her, still grinning infuriatingly.

Suddenly, she smiles back at him. “Get off my bed, or I’ll call Karone in here.”

His grin vanishes. “You wouldn't.”

“Wanna try me silver boy?” she mock-threatens.

“She wouldn't come,” he insists, appearing more panicked by the moment.

“The Power protects me,” she jokes before raising her voice to yell, “Karone! Zhane’s lying on my bed and won’t leave!”

He’s off of her bed and out the door before she can blink. He nearly flattens Trent who was apparently about to knock.

“What was…?” Trent asks, gesturing after Zhane.

She rolls her eyes and says, “Zhane was being Zhane. Were you going to ask me something?” She stands up and stretches.

He shakes his head. “Cam just sent me to make sure you were up. What do you want for breakfast?”

She smiles a little at Cam’s concern. Like she didn't wake up at exactly the same time every morning (barring unusual circumstances like Zhane). “Depends on who’s cooking.”

“I think I saw Merrick poking around in the kitchen, but you know how he is. So either him or Cam,” Trent reports.

Lauren thinks on it for a moment. “In that case, I’ll take pancakes.” Trent nods at her with a little smile before retreating to the kitchen. Lauren opens her closet and jumps in surprise.

“Good morning Lauren,” Tyzonn greets from inside her closet.

“Morning, Ty,” she manages after a moment. “What are you doing inside my closet?”

He extends her practice clothes toward her. “I took the liberty of picking out your clothes this morning. I hoped to save you some time.” He smiles like he is proud of himself for thinking of it.

“Thank you Ty; that was very…thoughtful of you,” she says with her best “team leader” (as Cassie jokingly calls it) smile. She neglects to point out that, on days that do not include a trip to the store, she only wears her training outfit. She closes the closet door back. The alien rangers always sort of freak her out. Zhane is the only one she really knows how to handle.

She quickly changes and heads out of her bedroom into the living room. She gets a greeting from Jason but none from Tommy, probably on account of how badly Tommy is being beaten in the video game they are playing. Judging by Tommy’s hair, he’s in green ranger mode right now, but Jason’s black attire suggests that he’s a few years ahead of his friend.

She finds Merrick to be the one cooking in the kitchen. Zhane has found his way here as well and is wolfing down pancakes. She had long ago given up wondering how people who were not real could eat. He is resolutely ignoring her, obviously upset about her kicking him out. She rolls her eyes. He’ll get over it in an hour.

“Hey Cam,” she greets the samurai sitting at the table reading the paper. He nods at her in acknowledgement, apparently engrossed in the article he’s reading. She grabs a plate of pancakes, shoots a ‘thank you’ at Merrick (who doesn't acknowledge it), and slides into the seat across from Cam.

“So what’s with all the sixths today?” she asks in between bites of pancake.

“You noticed,” he says as way of response, not even looking up at her.

“Of course I noticed; I am a highly trained samurai,” she jokes. Cam’s lips quirk, but he does not smile. “Seriously, why am I being invaded by angry males with complicated backstories?”

“I resent that,” Cam says dryly. She makes a face at him. He sighs deeply, putting his paper down and rubs his eyes like he’s tired. “I think it’s the Power’s idea of a joke.”

She stares at him, her fork halfway to her mouth. “You’re kidding right? The Power? Joking?”

“How long has your team been active again? A few months?” Cam asks instead of responding.

She’s taken back by the question. No one ever brings up her team unless she needs to talk about it. “Yeah, that sounds right.” _Five months, two weeks, and four days,_ she thinks, knowing that Cam know she knows it but doesn't want to say it out loud. Cam sighs again and pushes his paper toward her, the article he was reading face-up. The title reads “The New Addition to the Panorama City Power Rangers is As Good As Gold.”

“You got your sixth today, Lauren,” Cam says heavily. She looks up blankly at him. “Officially,” he adds. “They didn't exactly accept him at first, but as of today, he’s officially your sixth.”

She’s quiet for a long time, breakfast forgotten. She’s dimly aware of the fact that both Zhane and Merrick have halted what they’re doing and are staring at her.

“I—I don’t understand,” she finally says numbly, staring at the picture attached to the article without really seeing it.

“What don’t you understand?” Merrick speaks for the first time behind her. “You got one more than you were planning on, end of story.” She thinks that Cam shoots Merrick a look, but she’s still looking at the article.

“There aren't six Samurai Power Rangers,” she says firmly.

“Well, there are now,” Zhane says.

“No, you don’t understand,” she says, shaking her head and turning to look at him. “There  _aren't_  six Samurai Power Rangers. There are five colors, five families, five folding zords. It’s like someone trying to tell you that there are seven Astro Rangers. There aren't. There are six power sets on the Astro Ranger team, not seven. There can’t be a sixth ranger on my team.”

“Every team has a sixth,” Ryan remarks from the doorway. She hadn't heard him come in.

“Jungle Fury didn't,” Merrick says, flipping a pancake.

“Jungle Fury also had a purple ranger and moral support instead of tech support,” Zhane snorts, digging into another pancake.

“What about Turbo?” Merrick asks.

“The Phantom and Blue Senturion both technically fit the requirements,” Zhane says around a bite of pancake.

“There are requirements?” Ryan asks.

“Can we please stay on topic?” Lauren interjects.

“He made his own powers, Lauren,” Cam tells her. “So yeah, now there are six Samurai Rangers.”

“The head of Shiba house has to approve all additions to the power sets,” Lauren nearly barks at him. “Or have you forgotten why your mother was training to be a ninja instead of a samurai?”

Cam flinches, and she immediately regrets it, but before she can apologize, Merrick sets down his spatula, leans over the counter toward her, and says, “And the head of Shiba house has approved this addition to the power set. You’re dead Lauren. Your brother is head of Shiba house until you aren't dead anymore.”

“If it bothers you that much, just add the guy’s family to your super-secret ninja indentured servitude deal when you go back,” Zhane says flippantly, gesturing at Merrick for more pancakes.

“Samurais are different than nin—,” Cam begins, but Lauren cuts across him.

“It’s fine, Cam, leave it.” She pushes the newspaper away from her almost violently and asks, her tone forcefully light, “So are my teachers limited to sixths today, or do I actually get to learn?”

Cam looks a little concerned for her but answers anyway. “No, RJ’s going to spar with you, Chip’s going to practice swordplay with you, and I think it’s Aisha’s turn to supervise your symbol power practice.”

The day passes in mostly a blur. That evening she finds herself sitting on her bench outside, unable to meditate.

“So,” a voice says, making her jump. She finds Mack sitting beside her where he definitely wasn't before. “You wanna talk about it or just repress and ignore it?”

“I was planning on repressing and ignoring,” she says, turning away and closing her eyes. “And the eating cereal at night thing is more Dom’s forte than yours.”

She hears his spoon clink in his bowl again as he retrieves another bite. “He doesn't get to trademark eating cereal at night,” he protests around a mouthful. “And don’t change the subject; we’re talking about repressing and ignoring problems.”

“Which is what I plan to do. Right here. Alone,” she says, sitting in perfect meditation position.

“You know, I repressed and ignored my problems once. It was fun for a while,” he agrees. She can hear him crunching on his cereal.

She gives in with a sigh after a moment, opening her eyes and slouching. “Sometimes I don’t think you guys are real.”

“We aren't,” he says helpfully.

“Doesn't that cause some kind of identity crisis? Knowing you’re not really you?” she asks, momentarily sidetracked.

He laughs. “I already had one of those. Fake memories, remember?”

She shoots him a look and continues, “But I mean, sometimes I think I just invented all of you. Like, dreamed you up in order to make up for…whatever.” She’s quiet for a while, trying to collect her thoughts. “I just… It should be me.”

“I don’t follow,” Mack says after it becomes clear that she’s not going to speak again.

“It should be me leading the rangers. It should be me welcoming the sixth and confirming his family. It should be me defending the world and defeating the Nighlok. It should be me wearing red. It should be me risking my life, not him. Not my baby brother.”

“He’s not a baby anymore, Lauren,” Mack says quietly.

“I _know_ ,” Lauren says, frustration creeping into her voice. “But he _is_. He’ll always be the five-year-old I left behind in my head. The little boy I wanted nothing more than to protect. And now _I’m_ the reason he’s always in danger.”

Mack chuckles softly. “You sound just like him, you know. He feels this same guilt about the others putting their lives in danger for him when he isn't the real head of Shiba house. But some things you've just got to live with and ‘the plan’ is just one of them.” He manages to inject as much disgust as he can into those two words. Most of the former rangers feel the same way about the plan that he does, and they make that abundantly clear at every opportunity.

“I hate him sometimes,” she whispers.

“Jayden?” Mack asks.

“I meant my dad but him too. And sometimes my mom, for dying and leaving us here all alone. And my mentor for getting sick. And Jayden’s mentor for letting the plan happen.”

“Don’t worry; I hate my dad sometimes too,” Mack says, eating another bite of cereal. He swallows very deliberately before continuing. “You don’t have to love someone just because you’re related to them, you know.”

“I know,” she says. They’re quiet for a long time before she asks, “So what kind of fun is Kim going to force me to have tonight?”

“I think it’s actually Lily, and something called Zumba?”

She laughs and gets up, offering him her hand. “Come on, we’ll face the monsters together.”

He grins at her. “Always.”

~~~

The last time it happens is a few hours after she fails.

She meets Jayden (and he’s just like everyone described him, and somehow she’s absurdly reminded of Andros on a good day, and she’s dying to tell Ashley that). She meets the team.

“So, what do you do for fun?” the green samurai ranger, Mike (nothing like Cam), asks.

She almost laughs at the idea of telling him the truth so she only tells half of it. “I train.”

He doesn't believe her, so she tries again.

“I train.” (She remembers Max wrestling her to the ground for the remote and insisting it was a training exercise. She would have had him beat if the rest of his team didn't gang up on her.) “I exercise.” (Joel made her run laps with him on her back in the name of exercise.) “I practice the sealing symbol.” (“It looks like mountain,” Trip insists. “It looks nothing like mountain,” Lucas scoffs. “I see a temple.” “No, look, the peaks are here, and the valleys are here—” “I’m gonna have to side with Lucas here,” Eric says, tilting his head. “That looks nothing like a mountain.”)

She thinks that they pity her, and it bothers her a little bit.

And then Jayden leaves. And then she fails. And this can’t be happening. And she doesn't have anyone to talk to about it because she feels like the Power left her on that cliff.

She hits the dummy with the practice sword again and again and again and again until she drops it, and when it drops, she drops with it because it feels like all her will-power and strength are gone and her shoulder burns and are those tears—

“I thought Cam trained you out of dropping your left shoulder years ago; being injured is no excuse,” a voice says behind her. She sits up quickly, trying to wipe her cheeks, before she realizes—

“Shane?”

He grins at her from where he leans in the door frame. “Hey, sunshine,” he says, calling her a nickname she never bothered to dissuade him from using.

“But how are you—”

“The Power protects, remember?” a new voice says from behind her. She turns her head to see Carter squatting down beside her. “And no one needs protection quite like you do right now.”

“But I thought—”

“Just because you went and got yourself a team doesn't mean you don’t need us,” Nick’s voice comes from her left, and she finds him leaning against the dummy she had been abusing.

The more she looks around, the more people appear. Leo, Mack, Casey, Bridge. They appear almost too quickly to identify.

“You guys here to tell me how badly I messed up?” she asks weakly.

“Don’t you dare.” And that’s Jen, looking angry from the doorway. “Don’t you dare say that.” And then she realizes what’s going on. Team leaders, here to cheer her up.

“Why not?” she asks bitterly. “It’s true. The sealing symbol didn't work. I messed up. I failed.”

“And how the hell were you supposed to know that he had guarded himself against the symbol?” Scott asks angrily.

“But—”

“No, no ‘but’s.” She’s surprised at the vehemence in Bridge’s tone. Fury is not an emotion she associates with Bridge. “You didn't mess up. Xandred messed up. You know why? Because he just gave you an excuse to destroy him. _You_ , Lauren Shiba, can rise above this. You can beat him at his own game. You can get off that floor and take this guy down.”

“How do you know?” she asks after a long moment.

“How did I know that you’re like your brother?” Mack asks.

“How did I know that your brother would leave when you arrived?” she hears Andros from the corner. He _had_ predicted it a few years prior.

“How do we know anything?” Jen asks, arms crossed and looking for all the world like she wants to punch someone’s lights out. “Because we do. So get off your ass and _kick_ some ass.”

Then they’re gone. And, somehow, she knows what she’s got to do.

~~~

Mack turns out to be right; she and her brother are alike. She’s too smart to try and lead a team that was never hers into an impossible battle, but her baby brother leads them perfectly to victory. They win and part ways. But they all come back, like magnets are pulling them together. And they all become her friends. They become her _team_. She never tells her new friends about her old ones, but she can’t help make a few choice comparisons. She finds herself talking to people who aren't there at night. She tells them about her team.

About Jayden, who shares being the ‘real red’ with her (“He’s learning guitar, Kira. I taught him how to read music”). About Mia, who is so genuinely nice that it’s disarming (“She takes me shopping, Kim. You’d be so proud of my closet”). About Kevin, who’s too much of a samurai to know how to stop (“I got him to break his own rule today, Zhane. He ate real junk food!”). About Emily, who felt out of place at first, just like her (“She morphed in a wedding dress once, Scott. I think you’d like her”). About Mike, who's unorthodox and demands to know how she’d gotten so good at video games (“You should have seen him when I beat him at that game Tommy sucks at, Ethan. You’d have thought I insulted his mother”). About Antonio, who is a tech wiz and never actually officially joined (“I made his family part of the samurai ranks, Mack. You would have liked him”). And she tells them about Ji and how he manages to make a great father figure and mentor (“He rides a motorcycle, Wes! Obviously, not as cool as yours, but still”).

They teach her things, and it sort of feels like a repeat. She and Jayden exchange fighting moves and styles (and he takes her unorthodox fighting more seriously after she kicks his ass with it). Mia teaches her how to cook (because, really, Mia’s not that bad when she doesn't burn things, and the cooking school is helping; at least no microwaves explode). Mike teaches her how to play video games (and she takes him video game shopping to make up for beating his high score). Emily teaches her how to read and write music (they have a karaoke night). Kevin teaches her how to swim (in the pool down the street; her teammates make jokes about fish phobias to Antonio that go over her head). Antonio tries to teach her to speak Spanish, but she declares his lessons a failure.

They teach her things without meaning to. Jayden teaches her about understanding (through glances and shared experiences). Mia teaches her about love (through forced sleepovers and group hugs that she doesn't hate). Emily teaches her about determination (through stories of childhood and memories of the team that Lauren had only occasionally seen through a TV screen). Kevin teaches her about discipline (through routines and hard work). Mike teaches her about balance (through alternating training with fun). Antonio teaches her about loyalty (through his unwavering dedication to Jayden that sometimes involves impromptu dog piles).

And it’s great. Some days she almost forgets about her childhood friends.

Until the day they get an invitation to their first ranger reunion.

**Author's Note:**

> This is in response to two things: 1) The ‘Places Lauren Wasn't Raised’ stories (please go read all of them they’re perfect I’m in love) 2) Several of the Grid Theory stories floating around that feature future or current rangers getting visited by their predecessors.  
> You should go read all of those stories (you can find them by looking through the 'places lauren wasn't raised' tag and the 'grid theory' tag) because they're all great.


End file.
